Philadelphia Eagles

For several weeks, it has seemed like A.J. Brown would be on his way to the Patriots once the calendar reached early June.

But there is now reporting that suggests the framework for a trade may not be done.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said on Wednesday night that the Patriots and Eagles may still be haggling over the trade terms.

“As far as the actual trade, we’re all waiting for June 1 to happen, so the cap hit is in half for the Philadelphia Eagles and they can trade [Brown],” Rapoport said. “I just don’t know that it’s going to be like ‘snap your fingers and the deal is done,’ because the two sides are where they have been — which is the Eagles wanting a first-round pick in 2027. The Patriots — being the most likely destination, we’ll see if someone else arises — but the Patriots [are] not willing to give up a first-round pick, as of right now.

“That means they’re not particularly close, and there’s a chance this could drag on for the foreseeable future.”

But just because the two sides haven’t agreed on compensation at this point does not mean the deal won’t go through next week once the calendar hits June.

With so much smoke around Brown heading to the Patriots throughout the offseason, it would be an upset if the wideout ends up playing anywhere else in 2026.

New Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion will run a Sean McVay-style offense this season. Quarterback Jalen Hurts is expected to play under center more often, and the Eagles are expected to use an outside zone run scheme.

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley reached out to Todd Gurley about the system.

In five seasons in the offense, Gurley rushed for 5,404 yards and 58 touchdowns, twice earned All-Pro and in 2018 was Offensive Player of the Year.

“You’re not blinded when you focus on this side. You ever get your shoulder square, easier?” Barkley said, via Kenneth Arthur of turfshowtimes.com. “I don’t know if y’all know what that means like… When I say we have an inside run. From gun and you got to really work on getting the shoulders squared so they can see the whole field. From under center is easier. You need downhill a little quicker. You could threaten them with stretches in outside zone a lot more. There’s a lot of unique things you could do. And yeah, it’s no secret what the system is about, and I look forward to doing that. Probably be the most I’ve ever done it under center, too, and you know, outside zone. Y’all got good stuff, but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to working on and getting better at it. Trying to do my best.”

Barkley led the league with 345 carries for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2024, earning Offensive Player of the Year honors. In 2025, he slipped to 280 carries for 1,140 yards and seven touchdowns.

Earlier this month, Eagles linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. was arrested for speeding and reckless driving after being clocked at 135 miles per hour.

On Wednesday, coach Nick Sirianni was asked whether he addressed the situation with Smith, and whether he had an “overall message” to the team about it.

“Obviously, any conversation I have with any player will always stay private,” Sirianni said. “With that being said, we address everything. We talk about everything. When it’s appropriate to talk about it with the individual, we talk about it with the individual. When it’s appropriate to discuss it as a team, I’ll choose to discuss it as a team. Yeah, it’s important.

“Obviously, what’s so important is that we learn from our mistakes not only on the football field, but in the community as well and we try to get better from those things. Everything that we go through is a teachable moment on the field, off the field. That’s a big part of getting better.

“Like I said, everything we address, it’s just a matter of how we do that with our players, but that’s why it’s so important that you’re in constant communication with your players [and] have good relationships with your players. Not that every conversation’s going to be lovey-dovey. There’s hard conversations, there’s tough conversations, there’s conversations where you laugh, there’s conversations where you cry, there’s conversations where you go through a process of that.”

While plenty of players get cited for speeding, 135 mph is an extreme speed. It puts not only the life of the player at risk but also the lives of others. And, while Smith’s incident occurred in Georgia, sports teams that rely on local residents for their money and support should ensure that no one employed by the franchise is potentially putting those residents at risk on the highways.

It’s one thing to wag a finger. It’s quite another to create real disincentives. And it’s something the league should take far more seriously than it does.

Eagles wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks is among the players opting not to attend Philadelphia’s Organized Team Activities today.

Although OTAs are voluntary, most players choose to attend, and Wicks’ absence is notable because the Eagles just traded fifth- and sixth-round picks to the Packers for him, and signed him to a contract extension, last month. Typically players whose new teams have made that kind of investment in them want to be at practice as much as possible.

Wicks is expected to have a big role in the Eagles’ offense, especially if the much-discussed A.J. Brown trade comes to fruition. The Eagles will want Wicks to have plenty of work with Jalen Hurts and the offense before the season starts.

Other Eagles not in attendance today, according to reporters on the scene, were Brown, linebacker Jihaad Campbell, linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, offensive tackle Lane Johnson and defensive lineman Jalen Carter.

Wide receiver A.J. Brown remains a member of the Eagles, but that’s expected to change when the salary cap implications of trading him become less onerous after June 1.

Trade talk has swirled around Brown since he aired grievances about the Eagles offense throughout the 2025 season and a frayed relationship with quarterback Jalen Hurts was seen as one of the reasons for his dissatisfaction with the team’s direction. On Wednesday, Hurts was asked about the possibility of a Brown trade and he said his mind has been on getting acclimated to new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion’s scheme while noting that an end to Brown’s time in Philadelphia wouldn’t tarnish what they achieved as teammates.

“For us, we’re focused on learning the offense,” Hurts said. “It really doesn’t change, in terms of our approach to change or improve. There’s an ‘if’ — obviously been a lingering thing, but nothing can replace all the greatness that we achieved together.”

Hurts said that nothing has changed with his relationship with Brown, which he called “really good” despite the chatter that has gone on since the start of last season. Whether that’s a full assessment or not, the future of the Eagles offense is likely to be determined by how well Hurts clicks with other receivers.

For much of the offseason, the expectation has been that the Eagles will trade receiver A.J. Brown to the Patriots after June 1 — when Philadelphia can spread the dead cap charge for the transaction over multiple years.

There are players on New England’s roster who have spoken as if they believe the move is, at the very least, pretty close to a done deal.

But head coach Mike Vrabel didn’t really come close to that line when he was asked in his Wednesday press conference whether or not the Patriots might be looking at upgrading their group of wideouts, perhaps as soon as within the next week.

"[W]e want to continue to improve the roster at every opportunity that we get,” Vrabel said. “And when those opportunities arise, I don’t know. I know the guys that we have here are working extremely hard. I would say yesterday’s first OTA was much better than last year’s. I have to take the coaches’ opinion, because I didn’t go back and watch last year’s first day. But I felt like yesterday was really positive. It was good to see Romeo [Doubs] out there — it was good to see some of the new faces, some of the young guys.

“So, again, we’re going to look to strengthen the roster wherever we can. But it was also a great day to see guys who maybe didn’t get as many opportunities last year, especially Romeo, who wasn’t on our team.”

Vrabel, of course, cannot directly address Brown at this point, as that could constitute tampering.

But with June 1 now under a week away, it may not be long until coach and receiver are reunited.

Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter missed a month of football late in the 2025 regular season after undergoing surgical procedures on both of his shoulders. With the offseason program in full swing — and with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio meeting recently with reporters — it was time for an update on Carter’s health.

“I think his shoulders are fine,” Fangio said last week in response to a question about Carter’s health. “He’s had a good offseason of lifting. I think he started that earlier than normal for him and you can see the difference in that regard. I think he’s in a better spot now than he was.”

Carter continues to be a key piece of the Philly defense, and he’s arguably the best interior defensive lineman in the league. Eyebrows were raised in March when, in the aftermath of the team signing defensive tackle Jordan Davis to an extension with a new-money average north of $26 million, it was reported (leaked) that the Eagles were getting calls about a potential trade for Carter.

With Carter’s early-career exploits putting his 2027 fifth-year option at $27.1 million, a new deal quickly becomes very expensive. His franchise tag number for 2028, based on his fifth-year option, would be at least $32.52 million.

As with any great player, the longer a team waits to sign him, the more expensive it gets. And the Eagles usually don’t dillydally when it comes to securing their foundational players.

The mere fact that Carter, who became eligible for a new deal in January, doesn’t have one invites speculation as to whether he wants significantly more than the Eagles are willing to pay — and whether those reports (leaks) about the team getting trade calls will continue.

June 1 is eight days away. An A.J. Brown trade is as little as nine days away.

As of June 2, the Eagles can trade Brown and spread the dead-money charge over two years. Most believe it’s just a matter of time before the trade happens. Most believe Brown will be traded to the Patriots.

Watch the video attached to this post. Patriots safety Kevin Byard and receiver Romeo Doubs recently spoke openly about the arrival of Brown as if it’s a done deal.

It’s entirely possible that the deal is unofficially done. Trade terms agreed to, and both teams keeping their mouths shut until Brown passes a physical and both teams communicate the terms of the transaction to the league office.

The Maxx Crosby fiasco from March was a lesson to all teams about not letting the cart get in front of the horse. Say nothing until the deal is official.

Could another team swoop in with a better offer? If the Patriots and Eagles have unofficially worked out a deal, and if both sides honor a transaction that remains unofficial until it becomes official, it’s too late for that.

Some are still suggesting the Rams could make a run at Brown. That ship sailed in March, when the Rams decided not to proceed based on the available medical information — and when the Rams allowed $24 million in 2026 compensation for receiver Davante Adams to become fully guaranteed.

If the Rams had done the deal, they would have traded Adams. It’s not impossible for someone else to enter the A.J. fray, especially if the Chiefs are suddenly having misgivings about whether Rashee Rice can be trusted after his recent probation violation.

For now, all signs are still pointing to Brown becoming a Patriot as soon as June 2.

Sean Mannion took over a high-profile job this offseason when he was named the offensive coordinator of the Eagles in the wake of their disappointing 2025 season.

The Eagles offense failed to recapture the heights of their Super Bowl run and there were weekly reports about the dysfunction behind the scenes. Most included mention of quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver A.J. Brown, whose relationship deteriorated to the point that the Eagles are expected to ship Brown out of town the moment the calendar flips to June.

Hurts will still be there and Mannion touched on how things are going with the quarterback during a Thursday press conference.

“Jalen’s been awesome,” Mannion said, via a transcript from the team. “I really think he can do anything we ask of him. He’s accurate. He’s a great athlete. He really attacks the fundamentals. That’s what’s been really fun to watch these last two weeks of phase two. He’s always wanting more things to work on, wanting more things regarding fundamentals, timing, understanding the scheme. He’s hungry for more. Those are the guys that are really fun to work with. In terms of skillset though, he has great arm strength, great accuracy, obviously a tremendous athlete and he really attacks the game. He has a great process in the meetings. He always asks really, really thought provoking questions. He’s detailed and attacks his fundamentals. He’s always a guy who stays after practice and is working on things. Those are the guys you love to work with.”

The question with Hurts has not always been whether he’s capable of doing things, but whether he’s willing to do it. Reports about Hurts’s unwillingness to conform to parts of the offensive plan popped up more than once last season and were seen as a leading reason for the team’s offensive dysfunction. That means many will wait to see what happens in the fall before any declarations that calmer times have arrived in Philadelphia.

The Eagles hired offensive coordinator Sean Mannion after they failed to impress on that side of the ball in 2025 and his plans for the coming season were the chief topic of a press conference on Thursday.

Mannion only has two years of NFL coaching experience and both of them came under Matt LaFleur with the Packers. Mannion was asked whether his scheme will resemble what he picked up there and as a player or if it will lean on things the Eagles have done well in the past.

“Obviously there’s things I believe in, and there’s things that schematicaly I have a background in,” Mannion said. “But, ultimately, it’s going to be a blend. t’s constantly going to evolve and it’s all with that exact goal in mind. It’s about maximizing things for the players. How do we make the Eagles the best team we can be, and how to make the Eagles offense the best it can be, and how do we put all of our players in a position to really succeed and maximize their strengths.”

Quarterback Jalen Hurts will be central to anything that Mannion comes up with and Mannion said there will be “some degree of connection” to things that Hurts is most comfortable doing in order to create a system that gives him room to thrive. Hurts is no stranger to new offensive coordinators and the fit with his current one will help determine how much happier the Eagles are at the end of the 2026 season.